The thought of doing a Christ painting has been in my mind for quite a long time. What is more appropriate than starting it during the Passion week? Covid-19, lock down, and all the adversities happening around the globe led me to contemplate more on ‘Christ’s redeeming Love’.
The thought process and the creative process were equally exciting and challenging. I was emotionally consumed by the spiritual significance of Christ’s redemption. The moment I conceived the idea, I made my decision to approach and translate it in a different way than my usual style. Creative versatility always excites me. I followed my instincts and decided to do a composition predominantly with geometric shapes and patterns.
Why I chose ‘Triangle’ as my main compositional element?
The ‘Triangle’ is a compositional element that has been used in visual art throughout history. The use of triangular shape in a design or an artwork has both compositional and symbolic significance. In this artwork, I aimed to explore the use of the triangle as both an aesthetic and structural element. Being a strong and stable structural shape, I used triangle as a metaphor to depict the strong bonding of the body, mind and soul. During the creative process, breaking down the triangular patterns to keep it simple and aesthetically pleasing was crucial, because these patterns carry both characteristics of minimalism and complexity simultaneously.
The spiritual Significance of Triangle in the artwork.
Generally in spirituality, triangle represent the union of body, mind and spirit. It can also depict the union and harmony of people. Particularly in Christianity, a triangle symbolically represents the spiritual hierarchy and ‘Trinity’. The point up triangle represents the ascension towards the spiritual world, while the point down triangle can represent a descent into the physical world.
Colour Scheme
The patterns were created by the careful rendering of colors and they are used as a navigational tool throughout the composition. A multi color pallet was a conscious decision to show the diversity of humanity. Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross was for the whole of humanity. The unconditional love surpasses the boundaries of cast, creed, race and color. Composing a multiple color scheme and patterns was indeed challenging. Choosing color for each triangle was instantaneous and the risks of mishaps and the high of happy accidents were inherent in the painting process. The multitude of colors in the background is again used as a metaphor to depict the diversity of human emotions and its harmonious unity with nature and the Divine. Keeping the right tonal values for the foreground, middle ground and the background was also crucial.
I am happy and overwhelmed with the finished artwork. I hope you also will enjoy this work,” The Epitome of Love”.